


Verismo

by eorumverba



Category: SHINee
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-03
Updated: 2017-05-03
Packaged: 2018-10-27 13:12:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10809714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eorumverba/pseuds/eorumverba
Summary: But instead, when he opens the envelope and looks at the note, he only sees a single two sentence: a humble request to the pianist: Liebestraum no 3. in A Flat. P.S. - windows open so I can hear you better, you play too wonderfully to not be heard. The handwriting is half cursive and charming, and it makes Taemin’s lips curve up into a smile without his permission.





	Verismo

The apartment Taemin moves into is small and cramped, and there is barely enough room for his piano, but he doesn’t really mind. Because it’s _his_ , all his, and that’s all that matters. It takes him nearly a week to settle fully in, and he spends that week eating takeout and sleeping on the floor and then the couch and finally in bed. It’s unnerving to wake up in total darkness, with unfamiliar silhouettes and a foreign layout, but Taemin doesn’t really mind - it’s actually kind of exciting.

Once he’s unpacked enough so that the apartment doesn’t look like a disaster zone, Taemin spends most of his time at the piano, practicing and composing; he’ll start teaching again once he’s fully settled in and unpacked. He’d been playing the piano since almost as soon as he could walk - he’d taught himself mostly, not studying under a teacher until he entered middle school, and the speed at which his skills developed and the way he devoured each new material labelled him as the piano boy at school, the prodigy. He could have likely gone professional, but Taemin chose instead to teach children, to study music at school.

And he’s happy with that.

The apartment had been Jongin’s idea, and a (surprisingly) good one too - _you can’t practice on a piano if you have a roommate,_ Jongin had reasoned, _and you’re up at weird hours._ So Taemin had worked his ass off until he found a place - and now here he is.

Taemin shakes himself from his thoughts, putting his hands to the keys and running through scales; his mind begins to drift again and he switches from scales to [Chopin’s Nocturne in C Minor](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-O35K9GWRbs), one of his favorite pieces. It’s something he listens to when he can’t sleep, one of the first pieces he’d learned because he’d found it on Youtube and was determined to learn it himself. The notes had come easy, but the emotion not, and it hadn’t for years. His first teacher complained that he only played the notes and didn’t feel the music, and after focusing on feeling, he’d done too much _feeling_ and not enough _playing_. It’d taken a while to find the right balance, and even now, he’ll sometimes lapse into feeling too much, but it can’t really be helped. From there goes into some [Beethoven](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLAuUC1meDk) and then back to [Chopin](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ef-4Bv5Ng0w), but with the way his mind keeps drifting as he plays, he knows it won’t be a productive practice session, so Taemin decides to unpack some more and come back to practice later.

Later ends up being just after midnight, and he ends up staying at the piano bench until just after 2am, scribbling notes down in his notebook and letting his fingers wander over the keys. His back hurts when he finally gets up from the piano and it cracks at least three times as he stretches - he’d never been quite able to completely cure his slouch when he played, no matter how often he was scolded for it.

Taemin sits down on the couch, suddenly too exhausted to make it to his bed, and he doesn’t mean to fall asleep, but when he wakes, it’s nearly noon, and when he finally gets up to go get the mail, he sees the note. He picks up the envelope and worries his lip for a moment, sure that it’s a noise complaint. But instead, when he opens the envelope and looks at the note, he only sees a single two sentence: _a humble request to the pianist:[Liebestraum no 3. in A Flat.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4tfejFYHfM) P.S. - windows open so I can hear you better, you play too wonderfully to not be heard. _ The handwriting is half cursive and charming, and it makes Taemin’s lips curve up into a smile without his permission. He looks up and down the hallway, sees no one, and mail forgotten, he promptly throws open all the windows before going over to the piano, placing the note on the music rack and running through the song, fingers gliding over the keys and body swaying from the feeling.

And shortly after his impromptu performance, he hears faint applause.

The notes continue like that for about two weeks, pieces ranging from [Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nT7_IZPHHb0) to [Chopin’s Fantasie Impromptu](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75x6DncZDgI). It’s become something of a routine, waking up to find little notes in front of his door, playing the songs requested and straining to hear that faint applause.

And one day, Taemin wakes up to no note.

It’s disconcerting, and Taemin doesn’t touch the piano that day - not until that evening, when there is a quiet knock on his door. The man that is there when he opens it is a few inches taller than him, and he looks confused when Taemin opens the door. “Why didn’t you play today?”

What. “There was no note. I - someone’s been leaving notes of what to play, and I didn’t get one-”

“[Chopin, Waltz 19 in A Minor](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKLDMYUPeMs).”

It takes Taemin a second to realize, but suddenly he feels flustered and all he can say is, “You’re a Chopin person, aren’t you?”

The man smiles and dips his head, apparently bashful. “You play it so beautifully, I couldn’t resist. Lee Jinki.”

“Lee Taemin.” Taemin shakes Jinki’s hand and invites him in, waiting for Jinki to sit at the couch before going over to the piano and playing Jinki’s request. The song is short, but when Taemin opens his eyes, he sees Jinki with eyes closed, a small smile on his lips as he listens to him play, so Taemin transitions into [Liszt’s La Campanella](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqrusoQ6xVM), another of his favorites to play and listen to. Jinki makes a small noise and his smile has grown when Taemin glances over, but Taemin quickly turns back to focus on the song and not the man behind him. When the last note fades, Jinki applauds, and Taemin ducks his head, suddenly shy.

“Wonderful,” Jinki murmurs, “you did so _well_.”

A hot blush scorches Taemin’s cheeks and he covers them with trembling hands as he shakes his head. “It was okay. I - kept all of your notes.”

Jinki looks pleased, but then his phone buzzes in his pocket and as he checks it, his smile turns from pleased to fond, and he stands. “I should go...can I come back another time?”

“Any time. I don’t start school for another month.”

“You’re still in university?”

“This is my second year.”

“And you’re all alone? That’s very brave of you, Taemin. I’m proud of you.”

Something in Jinki’s voice makes Taemin’s blush start back up again, and he ducks his head, biting his lip to hide his smile as he sees Jinki out. “Thanks, Jinki.”

“Call me hyung,” Jinki throws back over his shoulder, “I’ll be back soon.”

And he’s right - Jinki comes back almost every day with songs and snacks and drinks because “a growing boy like you needs to eat well - I saw all of that takeout, Taeminnie”. Jinki is nice company, and Taemin grows used to his presence; on the days that he’s not there, Jinki leaves notes that are now signed with his name. And more often than not, when there is a note, there is a treat with it as well - fresh baked cookies, a loaf of bread because Jinki looked in Taemin’s fridge and saw he was running out, a bunch of bananas. It’s endearing, how Jinki dotes on him, but other times, when Jinki’s voice lowers and he says things like “I’m proud of you” or “you did well” or “good job, Taemin”, heat will lick in Taemin’s veins and all he can do is blush and duck his head and agree to whatever Jinki had said without processing the words.

The month passes by too quickly for Taemin’s liking and soon he’s getting back into the rhythm of balancing teaching, classes and playing on his own, and while he’d like to have Jinki come over often, the elder has work as well (he is a vocal instructor at SM Entertainment and that makes sense, how he knows so much about classical music; when he sings in front of Taemin for the first time, Taemin very nearly wants to cry at how _good_ his voice is, honey thick and smooth.)

Taemin’s back to eating takeout and pizza and chips and cookies instead of healthy meals, and he hasn’t seen Jinki in what seems like months, even if it’s only been a few weeks. The notes still come every day, and Taemin plays when he can, after his students leave and before he starts his homework. It’s strange like this, lonely even, and Taemin tries not to mind. He’d survived this long without Jinki, and it’s not even like they’re dating or anything. Jinki’s just his...friend.

His friend.

Sometimes, Taemin fantasizes about coming home to Jinki and curling up with him on the couch, about cooking dinner with him and feeding each other, about kissing him as he comes home and before bed and when they wake up. (Taemin definitely thinks about more rated things, but that’s aside the point.)

It’s not until Chuseok that Jinki comes over again; he’s out of breath and he smiles gently at Taemin when Taemin answers the door. Without wasting a breath, Jinki says, “Come up and have dinner with me and my boyfriend?”

And Taemin freezes. Boyfriend.

Because maybe he’d read Jinki’s little looks and smiles and touches wrong, maybe the flirting had just been Jinki being friendly, maybe Jinki had never felt anything that Taemin had. But he could never deny Jinki anything, so that is how Taemin ends up a floor above his, in Jinki and his boyfriend’s apartment.

The apartment is just as cramped as Taemin’s, but they’ve managed to make it homey and cozy; it’s also messy, but it’s a messiness that suggests that either Jinki, his boyfriend, are the both of them are creatives - there are stacks of papers taped to the walls and on the coffee table and on the couch, all with poems (or maybe lyrics?) scrawled all over them in black and blue and red ink. “Sorry for the mess, I told Jonghyun to clean up, but I’m pretty sure he’s napping.” Jinki’s smile is fond, and Taemin nods, awkward.

“I can...come back later?”

“No, no. Jonghyun and I usually do a more formal Chuseok dinner, but we were both busy this year, so is pizza good?”

“Only if there’s no pineapple.”

Jinki laughs out loud, startled, then covers it and listens for a moment before saying, “I’m glad. You and Jonghyun will get along just fine.”

Taemin’s just happy that Jinki is happy.

Jinki leaves to get the pizza and Taemin is left to wait on the couch; he sits and plays on his phone until Jinki comes back with four boxes - two plain, one pepperoni and one pineapple. Just as soon as he comes in and sets the pizza down, Jonghyun shuffles out of the other room, yawning hugely and rubbing at his eyes.

“Jinki?” he asks, voice pouty and small.

Jinki hums and Taemin watches as Jonghyun shuffles over to Jinki before draping himself over him and mumbling something Taemin can’t hear. Jinki says something else and then Jonghyun spins around, suddenly wide awake, and Taemin stares.

Because Jonghyun is so _cute_ , swamped in a huge pink hoodie that matches the shock of pink hair on his head. And when Jinki has someone this cute, why would he ever want Taemin? Jonghyun raises his hands (sweater paws, Taemin notes absently) and comes over to grab both of Taemin’s hands in his. He’s smiling, and it’s genuine - his eyes are sparkling and he’s so so so _cute_ that Taemin almost misses what he’s said.

“You’re Taemin? Jinki’s told me so much about you - thank you for playing for us so much, you’re amazing. It makes me want to play again. And you’re so cute, so pretty-”

“Jonghyunnie, don’t overwhelm him. Can you get drinks?”

Jonghyun seems reluctant to let go of Taemin’s hands, but he does eventually, pouting and grumbling as he shuffles off to do as Jinki said. “I’m sorry about him, he can be a lot to get used to.”

“No, I don’t mind.”

Jinki _smiles_.

Dinner is nice - Jonghyun sits next to Taemin and leans into him whenever he laughs, which is often. Jonghyun has so much love and joy bundled up inside him, even if he is extremely sensitive to teasing and ends up pouting for most of the night. He’s cute, he’s _very_ cute, and Taemin finds himself reciprocating and initiating little affectionate touches by the end of the night; leaning back into Jonghyun and searching for his thigh or hand to grab, shifting so that their thighs are pressing together as they watch a movie, running his fingers through Jonghyun’s hair because he soon finds out how that makes Jonghyun wiggle closer and hum in happiness. What Taemin loves about spending time with Jinki and Jonghyun is that they never make him feel left out - that even if they kiss or show any physical affection, Jonghyun is quick to turn to Taemin with a shy smile and open for a hug as Jinki watches with some kind of unreadable smile on his lips. He feels, more often than not, that there’s something they’re not quite telling him, but it’s not in the bad way. It just feels kind of _right_.

Jonghyun comes over to Taemin’s all the time now, curling up on the couch as Taemin lets his fingers wander the keys. When he learns that Taemin writes songs, he brightens up and makes his way over to the piano bench, looking over what Taemin’s written and helping him write more. (When Taemin asks how Jonghyun knows so much about composing, Jonghyun smiles a bit sheepishly and says, “You know Kim Jonghyun?” and then points to himself. It takes Taemin half a beat to realize that his Jonghyun is Kim Jonghyun, the same Kim Jonghyun that had written hundreds of songs for idols - most of them hit songs. It takes him another minute to realize that he’d called Jonghyun his.)

Taemin doesn’t know when his crush on Jonghyun first develops, doesn’t know if Jonghyun feels the same or if he’s always this affectionate, but he does make an effort to distance himself so as to not ruin Jonghyun and Jinki’s relationship. It’s in the second week of declining invitations to go out or come up that Jinki comes down to Taemin’s apartment, frowning.

“Jonghyun misses you,” he starts off, blunt and straight to the point, “he really likes you.”

Taemin winces, playing with the hem of his shirt to avoid looking Jinki in the eye. He doesn’t sound mad or anything, just disappointed, and that is somehow worse. “I do too, I tried not to but it kept growing and,” Taemin takes a breath, “that’s why I’ve been staying away. I’m sorry.”

Quiet for a long beat and when Taemin looks up through his lashes, he’s startled to see that Jinki isn’t upset - he’s smiling. “Come up tomorrow, it’s your turn to bring dessert.” (Somewhere along the line, they’d started to order in on Fridays and then have dessert that one of them made.)

Jinki leaves straight after that, shutting the door quietly behind him, and Taemin is left to think. Jinki hadn’t seemed at all upset that Taemin openly admitted he had a crush on his boyfriend, had invited him over while  _knowing_ of Taemin’s feelings, so - what? Taemin almost wants to not show up, but then, he’s never been able to deny Jinki anything.

The next night, Taemin comes with freshly baked brownies, standing outside for a long minute before knocking. The door is thrown open almost immediately and Jonghyun _brightens_ when he sees Taemin, throwing himself into his arms and squeezing tight. “I _missed_ you,” he breathes. Something hot drips on Taemin’s neck and he gently pulls away, wide-eyed when he sees that Jonghyun is crying.

“Jonghyunnie-”

“I thought you hated me,” Jonghyun interrupts, “thought I did something wrong and you hated me and I messed us up.”

“I could never hate you, Jonghyunnie.”

Jonghyun smiles through his tears and nods, taking Taemin’s free hand in his and lacing their fingers together. “Yeah, I know that now.”

“Are you two going to come in, or are you going to spend the whole night out there?” Jinki calls from inside. Jonghyun jumps, startled, then pulls Taemin in and shuts the door behind them both. Jinki’s sitting on the couch, and there’s already takeout on the coffee table - his gaze travels down to Jonghyun and Taemin’s twined fingers, and then he looks back up and smiles up at Taemin.

“Long time no see.”

Jonghyun’s lips push out in a pout and he drops Taemin’s hand to sit across from Jinki. “Don’t be mean!”

“I wasn’t being mean, Jonghyunnie. Tae, come sit.”

Wordless, Taemin obeys, sitting in between them and frowning when Jinki and Jonghyun just...begin to pass the food around like they usually would.

“Tae, do you want-”

“What is this?” Taemin interrupts, “what are you doing?”

“We’re eating dinner,” Jinki sounds amused, but he does put the container of rice down so he can concentrate fully on Taemin.

“No, I - I like Jonghyun. I _told_ you I like Jonghyun, and hell, I’ve liked you almost since we met. So why am I still here when I-”

“Taeminnie,” Jonghyun says gently, “calm down. It’s okay. Jinki and I both like you too. We’re both polyamorous. Jinki’s-” Jonghyun looks to Jinki for approval, and when Jinki nods, he continues, “Jinki’s actually very demiromantic, so I was surprised when he told me he liked you. That was before I met you...I wanted to meet you after that, to make sure you were okay, but I didn’t expect to fall for you too.”

“Is that really a surprise, Jonghyunnie? You get crushes so _easily_.”

Jonghyun turns to pout at Jinki, then turns back to Taemin and looks at him with nothing but adoration in his gaze. “You don’t have to answer right away, but Jinki and I both want to try dating you. But only if you want to date us too. If you only want to date one of us or just be friends, that’s fine too. We just want you to be happy.”

And Taemin knows that. Because he’s known them for several months now, and they’ve never once made him uncomfortable, always made him feel loved and special and really, how different would it be to date them? “Can I think about it?”

“Of course,” Jinki says, and then, “are you hungry?”

Taemin’s stomach growls then, and Jinki laughs, taking that for his answer. And everything is the same - Jonghyun is just as affectionate as he usually is, and Jinki is still a quiet presence between the two of them, but it’s different - the weight of what Jonghyun and Jinki want weighing on Taemin’s mind. He’d meant to think about it for longer, but while they watch a movie, curled up together in Jonghyun and Jinki’s bed, Taemin realizes how _loved_ he feels, how _right_ this is, and that he wants to stay like this forever. Or for as long as Jonghyun and Jinki want him.

“Yes,” he murmurs, and then louder, “yes.”

Jonghyun immediately begins to press kisses to Taemin’s forehead and cheeks and nose, arms squeezing tight and body curling around him. “I’m so fucking _happy_ ,” he breathes out, “you make me so happy.”

Jinki doesn’t say anything, but he does reach out to hold Taemin’s hand, and Taemin knows he feels exactly the same.

(They eventually buy a house together, after Taemin finishes school, one that is small but light and airy, one with enough room for Taemin’s piano, for Jonghyun’s guitar and all of his lyrics, for Jinki’s paintings and books. Jonghyun still curls up on the couch, buried beneath a blanket as he writes lyrics and listens to Taemin play, and Jinki still hides requests beneath Taemin's pillow or in the piano bench or on the mirror in the bathroom, and they still make dinner and desserts together, but there are so many more kisses and hugs pressed between the three of them, and Taemin has never felt happier than when he’s together with Jonghyun and Jinki.

And he’s sure they feel the same.)


End file.
